


Reason

by Skeren



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-18 07:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5904505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeren/pseuds/Skeren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was the betrayal that did it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reason

**Author's Note:**

> Written March 2006.
> 
> I wrote this back before Crisis Core was really a thing, when I first started writing Sephiroth on the regular.

Sephiroth had spent the last few days looking through records. At first, this had simply been a chore, the pan through of old experiments and orders long since issued and forgotten. It was nothing he hadn’t gotten used to in Midgar, and he wasn’t astounded that as the commander of this, he had to go through the more classified files instead of brushing the task off on a subordinate. 

Then he’d come across a file, the first that had his name in it. It wasn’t a report where he’d been mentioned as present or otherwise mostly uninvolved, but instead a lab report, a rundown of something that was actually highly important to him on a personal level. It very much said he wasn’t human.

That evening he’d been on edge, brushing away the efforts of his second in command to soothe his nerves. By morning, he’d been calm again, and the tour of the facilities had been resumed as he tried to keep his uneasiness to a minimum. It was pointless to consider it when there was nothing that could be done, and he didn’t care for the constant concern that the change was trying to bring forth in those who knew him well enough to detect it. 

That evening had brought about an entirely different sort of uneasiness however, as he found that his was not the only name among the files that had a personal import. There was also one for a SOLDIER first class under his command. Those contents changeable, testable, and far more relevant than the first files he’d found.

Zack has been waiting for him to finish the paperwork that evening, ready with a smile and a clear attempt to distract him from the heavy thoughts he’d been harboring. He’d called the man by the title those documents would make him, and had walked away from him before the stunned bewilderment had left his face.

He hadn’t tried to deny the claim after he returned that evening, seeming subdued, still less than his cheery self. The one ignored attempt at a conversation was all that was given, then the man had gone upstairs to his room. Come morning, it had been as though the matter had never been addressed in the first place. Or at least, would have been if one ignored the slight strain in his demeanor thereafter. 

The wary tension had built for the remaining days until Sephiroth decided that he had to get it out of the way. It was better to test a theory while getting something done at once than to stew and let idle thoughts ruin a perfectly good plan. He needed this proven, and he needed to quiet the insistent voice that had begun to demand he make an appearance, that had flared to life just the day after he’d called his second in command by what he was.

The destruction of Nibelheim was a strangely empty thing, a necessary action to get a particular result. He didn’t linger, knowing he’d get answers soon. 

Instead, he’d gone to mother.

His choice to be with her was solidified by the angry words after the door was blown open, the whispering in his mind going quiet as though to be certain he heard everything that was being said. He’d still waited, wanting to see if he’d be proven wrong and this would be nothing more than a gory, if pointless, experiment. It was confirmed when he saw a sword near his throat, the word given an immediate realism as his last hope was firmly quashed. He’d hoped that he would have more than just mother. Apparently that was not to be so.

“Traitor.”

* * *

**Name:** Zack (SOLDIER 1st Class)  
**Assignment:** Undetermined  
**Request for placement:** Newly promoted in class, he is to be placed under the command of General Sephiroth for observational and containment purposes. Having proven difficult to control in prior instances, it would be prudent to keep someone with at least decently close capabilities within the man’s trust should his instabilities come to light. Orders for immediate termination via this SOLDIER in light of an incident will remain in place for the foreseeable future, yet for the time being shall remain on hold, only triggered in full detail in light of any such said incident. If he gains the General’s trust, leave him in place. If he does not, terminate or reassign as is prudent for security purposes.


End file.
